Contract Binding
by RowanRhys
Summary: Nonexplicit Het. NonMary Sue. SnapeFOC. An inheritance, a mugging, illegal potions ring, Deatheaters...
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything except the plot and the OCs. Everything else belongs to JKR and the legal licensees of Harry Potter material.

**Contract Binding: Chapter One**

By RowanRhys

_Professor Severus Snape_  
_ The Great Hall_  
_ Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

The letter that had been dropped in front of his plate of cold toast and marmalade had the stuffy look of "official business" and Snape decided warily to open it in the privacy of his office. He wouldn't have bothered coming up to the Great Hall to eat if it had not been his turn to monitor the students who were rowdily beginning their day by denuding the magically-filled platters on the four House tables. He tucked the thick envelope into one of his robe pockets after examining the dark blue wax seal. It wasn't from anyone he recognized, having a quill crossing a handmill surrounded by entwined ivy strands as the device. He glared out over the hall, muting the morning hijinks when his dark gaze lowered upon some luckless student. Perhaps that was why the Great Hall cleared out faster than usual before the first class warning bell, allowing him to stalk back to his private office off of the Potions Classroom, his robes billowing about him like dark wings, with plenty of time to investigate the mysterious missive before his first class of the day.

* * * * *

_Miss Marian Carlyle-Tintagel_  
_ The Office at_  
_ The Unicorn Preserve_  
_ The Forest of Dean_  
_ Wales_

"Marian! An owl just arrived for you!" Marian paused in replaiting her brown hair, turning away from the mirror mounted on the inside of the supply closet door to look at her perky nineteen-year-old assistant. "Who from?"

"I don't know, I don't recognize the seal. Looks official, sort of. Pretty heavy too."

"Put it on the desk, Alyce, I'll open it later. Snowmane pulled my ribbon off when I was checking his shoulder this morning. I think he's more than ready to go back into the forest."

"Marian, you know he's only sticking around because he likes you. The rest of us, he could care less about, although he tolerates us." Alyce wrinkled her nose and bounced toward the outer office. "Anyway, I need to check on those twin foals again. I don't know what's going on with the smaller one. She's not gaining strength like she should. Silverhoof is worried about them."

Marian fastened an elastic band around the end of the plait and tossed it over her shoulder. "I'll come with you. I wish I knew what was attacking them. That's five unicorns with gashes in their necks or shoulders in the last month!"

She pulled on her jacket, checking to make sure that her wand was secure in the pocket and headed out into the autumn morning with Alyce.

The girl glanced at her as they shuffled through the fallen leaves that carpeted the lawn between the Admin building and the nursery paddock, some of the damper ones sticking to their wellies. "Aren't you curious about that letter? What if it's approval of that Grant we asked for to expand the preserve? Or maybe you inherited a fortune from some long lost uncle somewhere?"

"Or maybe it's a dunning notice because we forgot to pay someone or other when we did the bills last month," Marian answered lightly. "I'll look at it later. These babies are more important. I wish I knew what could have attacked them. They look almost like someone took a knife to them, but how could that happen here? They wouldn't let just anyone get so close."

"Marcus said there were some Welsh Green dragons sighted about ten miles west of here. Could one of them have done it?"

"A dragon wouldn't have stopped with one gash. This looks nothing like a claw mark." Marian shook her head. "I'm going to call around and see if I can get any ideas. I don't want to lose any more of our lovelies."

They'd reached the fence and Marian easily boosted herself up onto the top rail and waited for the delicately beautiful, half-grown unicorns to notice her and Alyce. It didn't take long for the larger of the two. His ears perked up and he pranced over, lifting his chin to rub against Marian's knee. "Hello handsome," she told him, gently running her hand down his neck. "How are you feeling today, Sundrop?" Her fingers skimmed the rough spot on his near side, where his neck and withers met, the remains of the gash that puzzled the Reserve staff. He nickered and then turned his attention to Alyce, but the nineteen-year-old was staring, horrified at the other occupant of the paddock.

Marian looked to follow her gaze and gasped. The female foal, standing with drooping head, suddenly wavered and collapsed. "Moonbeam!"

By the time the two women got to the unicorn, scrambling down from the fence and running across the enclosure, the beast had stopped breathing and the iridescent gleam of her coat and horn had already begun to fade. 

"Noooo!" Alyce threw herself across the filly's neck, sobbing. Sundrop, who had followed them, dropped his nose to nuzzle his sister. He seemed puzzled when she didn't move in response to his touch, then, he raised his head and let loose a keening neigh that was echoed by Snowmane, Silverhoof and the other injured mare, Silktail. Then more echoes sounded from the forest beyond the infirmary paddocks and shelters, as Moonbeam's kin joined in the mourning.

* * * * *

Alone in his office before classes started, Severus stared at the contents of the letter in disbelief. This was impossible! 

_Dear Professor Snape,_

_It is my duty to inform you of the death of Lord Andrew Carlyle-Fairleighweather, and that you are co-heir to his estate. Due to the complexity of the will and the entailment of the estate, there are several conditions contingent upon your receiving the inheritance. Please read the enclosed documents, and owl me back as soon as possible so that we may meet to expedite the settlement of the estate._

_Yours respectfully,_

_Slyvestris Markham-Peters   
of Markham-Peters, Roberson and  
Deluge, General Solicitors_

The enclosures listed a brief inventory of the estate that belonged to his--he supposed the old man had been a cousin, as their joint ancestor had been two generations back from Lord Andrew--who he vaguely remembered meeting once during his childhood. The wizard had been old even then, and seemed a cantankerous figure who demanded his own way, regardless of other's desires. Severus raised an eyebrow, stunned at the total estimated valuation. His share of the estate would put him on a par with the Malfoys when it came to galleons. Assuming he actually survived to retire from teaching, he could set up his own Potions research lab with no trouble at all. He glanced at the calendar. It was still fairly early in the term. Surely the Headmaster would give him leave to go to Diagon Alley to see this Mr. Markham-Peters within the next few days.

He could hear the Hufflepuff Third Years arriving beyond the door leading to the classroom. Severus hurriedly folded the parchments and stuffed them back into the envelope.Then, tucking them into his robe pocket, he drew himself to his full height, took a deep breath and, with an unusual effort, drew on his typical mien to greet the nervous youngsters. He'd talk to Albus at lunchtime. He just hoped that in the meantime he could hide his shock from the students.

* * * * *

It was after sunset when Marian made it back to her office after reassuring her distraught assistant and dealing appropriately with the dead unicorn filly. Sitting down behind her desk, she noticed the letter that had arrived that morning. Still saddened by the loss of the baby unicorn, she apathetically drew the envelope to her and touched the seal she didn't recognize.

It must have been charmed to her identity because the envelope suddenly opened and several thick sheets of parchment popped out. She blinked at the letterhead. What would a solicitor want with her?

_Dear Miss Carlyle-Tintagel,_

_It is my duty to inform you of the death of your paternal Grandfather, Lord Andrew Carlyle-Fairleighweather, and that you are co-heir to his estate. Due to the complexity of the will and the entailment of the estate, there are several conditions contingent upon your receiving the inheritance. Please read the enclosed documents, and owl me back as soon as possible so that we may meet to expedite the settlement of the estate._

_Yours respectfully,_

_Slyvestris Markham-Peters   
of Markham-Peters, Roberson and  
Deluge, General Solicitors_

"Alyce was right, it was an inheritance." She shook her head and sighed. "So the old man's finally gone. Maybe now I can enjoy my chosen career in peace without him pestering me about my duty to the family name!" She riffled through the enclosures briefly then stared in shock at the amount at which the estate had been valued. "Merlin's Beard! The interest alone is more than enough to fund this Reserve for a decade! I'll Owl them now and let them know that I'll Floo down to Diagon Alley in the morning."

An owl was waiting impatiently at the window of Marian's bedroom when she awoke the next morning. When she removed the missive from its leg and handed it an Owl Treat from the dish she kept handy for the visiting fowls, she found it to be an answer to her note to Mr. Markham-Peters. He suggested an appointment at 12:30 in the afternoon, giving her plenty of time to get to Diagon Alley after dealing with the morning routine.


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything except the plot and the OCs. Everything else belongs to JKR and the legal licensees of Harry Potter material.

**Contract Binding: Chapter Two**

by RowanRhys 

The breakfast Owl Post brought a confirmation that Snape's appointment with the solicitor was at 1:00 p.m. and he tucked the note into his pocket.

Albus Dumbledore, working his way through eggs and sausage, tilted his head in silent query, his eyes bright behind the half-moon spectacles that he wore.

"He wants to see me this afternoon, and he said the business might take part of tomorrow as well," Severus told him quietly, glaring at a Gryffindor Third year who was using his food as a toy rather than as sustenance.

"Don't worry about your classes. I'll be sure they're covered," said the Headmaster. 

"I've left lesson plans for each class on the desk. Theory work rather than practical. I would prefer to come back to find I still have a classroom, as, even after four full years, I do not trust Longbottom not to make a hash of even the simplest potion." Severus pushed his teacup aside. "I'll Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron from Hogsmeade."

The class warning bell rang and the last of the students at the House tables scrambled to finish their meals and to get to class. The Potions Master stood as well.

"Have a good trip, Severus," Dumbledore said. "You'll return to find all is well here, I'm sure."

Snape twisted his lip into a mild sneer, out of habit, and trailed the final departing students into the stairhall. He waited by the main doors until they were out of sight and the many-storied hall was quiet once more. Then, before he could do more than open his mouth, a house elf with curly red-brown hair popped into existence next to him, burdened with a valise.

"Here is Professor Snape's things. We is hoping you return safely!"

He took the piece of luggage from her, the corner of his mouth quirking slightly. It was as close to a smile as he was likely to get. Curly had aggravated him to no end when she'd first attached herself to his chambers and his service five years before. He'd given up on learning why she--among all of the House Elves that kept Hogwarts in order--had decided that he needed dedicated care, and just accepted her service with resignation. "Thank you." As he strode down toward the gates that lead to the Hogsmeade Road, he knew that if he looked back, he'd see the creature, neatly garbed in a clean teatowel embroidered with the Hogwarts seal, waving a farewell. But since looking back would be out of character, the dour Potionsmaster just kept his eyes on the chimney smoke that marked the town in the early morning frost.

* * * * *

"No! It's totally out of the question!" Marian thrust the parchment of the Will back at the solicitor and jumped to her feet. "I don't care that I'm his only living direct heir, I _will_ not be forced to marry in order to receive my Grandfather's fortune!"

"If you do not agree to the terms of the Will--all of the terms, not just this first one--then the co-heir cannot inherit either," protested Markham-Peters.

"My Grandfather tried to run my life ever since my parents died in my Seventh year at Hogwarts. He disapproved of my choice of career and has pestered me unmercifully about it for the last eighteen years. I refuse to allow him to force me from a job--a vocation!--I love, now that he's dead! You know perfectly well that I can't continue with my work if I marry--assuming I ever meet a man I wanted to!"

"Lady Marian--" He shook his head as she glared at him. "The title is yours irregardless of what you choose to do with the money. Lady Marian, the fortune is enough that you would never need to work again. You could have a life of leisure and travel--"

"I _don't want_ a life of leisure. I love what I'm doing, it's my very _life_! And that controlling old man is _not_ going to take it away from me!" She whirled and yanked the door to the outer office open, rushing past the clerk at the reception desk and out into the first floor hallway, slamming the door shut behind her. She took the stairs at a fast pace, furious at the old wizard and his posthumous manipulations of her life.

Her rage all but blinded her in her headlong rush down the dogleg stair that led to the Diagon Alley entrance to the firm. As she reached the landing at the turn of the stairway, she slammed hard into a tall, black-clad figure that was hurrying up the steps.

Strong, long-fingered hands grasped her by the upper arms and her white robes swirled about his dark ones as he swung them into a quick pirouette on the landing in an attempt to keep the pair of them from falling down the lower flight.

Marian gasped as the adrenaline rush faded, finding her fingers clenched tightly into the midnight fabric that covered his chest, and her body pressed up against a hard, obviously male, frame--the closest she'd been to a man since she'd determined in her teens that she wanted to work with unicorns. Already flushed from her anger, and the abrupt fear that they'd topple down the stairs, her face got even redder as she realized her position.

"I suggest that you watch where you are going and proceed at a less precipitous rate before you cause an accident." The voice was harsh and sneering, as his hands lifted her away from his person.

Without looking up at the man's face, she broke free of his steadying grasp with a muttered apology and pushed past, hurrying down the stairs in a flutter of white silk, and out the door which slammed shut behind her. Marian stumbled to a halt half a block away, to find herself in front of Ollivander's. She stared at the window of the wand shop and caught her breath. She had been about to head down to the end of the Alley to the Leaky Cauldron to Floo home, but something impelled her to enter the dusty old shop.

* * * * *

Snape found the door labeled Markham-Peters, Roberson and Deluge, General Solicitors and knocked. A clerk admitted him and asked him to take a seat for a moment while she ensured that Mr. Markham-Peters was ready to speak with him.

He refused an offer of tea and sat silently, brooding about this unexpected event in his life. He didn't have long to wait before the stout-figured Markham-Peters was inviting him to enter the inner office.

"Professor Snape!" The solicitor had a surprisingly firm handshake for a wizard who appeared to have spent little time doing anything but sedentary work. "I'm so pleased to meet you face to face at last."

Snape nodded and took the seat offered to him, habitually arranging his robes and posture to a position of intimidation and dignity. The effect was not lost on the solictor, who sat down behind the parchment-strewn desk, eyeing the Potionsmaster a bit warily.

"I had expected to be able to introduce you to the co-heir of the estate, Professor," he said apologetically. "But she was, er, rather upset by the principle condition of receiving the inheritance." Markham-Peters seemed embarrassed by the situation.

"Rather upset?" Snape raised an eyebrow in query. In a flash of insight, he realized that the woman who had almost knocked him down the stairs was the co-heir. "Perhaps, you will enlighten me?"

Markham-Peters handed across a thick sheaf of parchment, which turned out to be the will. "The first three pages outline the basics of the situation, sir. The remainder goes into more detail on the hows and wherefores of it, but you'll understand the requirements rather quickly."

Snape's brows drew together into a frown as he read the legalese that was traditional in a Last Will and Testament.

_To my sole remaining direct heir, Marian Carlyle-Tintagel, and to the last scion of the cadet line of the Carlyles, Severus Snape, I bequeath the entirety of my estate save for specific bequests as listed herein, upon the condition that they wed and join the family lines, and, furthermore, protect the bloodline by bearing an heir within two years of their marriage._

His fingers crushed the parchment slightly as he stared at the words in shock. Marriage? A child? He forced his hands to relax on the papers and continued reading.

Abruptly, his head shot up to glare at the solicitor. "AVERY NOTT is the contingency heir?" His voice was a growl of rage and horror. _Damn that old man for his manipulations! Nott will turn everything over to Voldemort to get back into the fold again!_

"I assure you, Professor, I did try to dissuade Andrew from doing so, but he was absolutely insistent." Markham-Peters shuffled the other papers on his desk nervously.

"You said that Miss Carlyle-Tintagel has rejected the conditions?"

"Well, she didn't get past the word marriage--she, er--feels very strongly about that. She's Senior Maiden at the Forest of Dean Unicorn Reserve," he explained. 

Severus forced down his anger at Lord Andrew's posthumous plot and tried to think clearly about the situation. After a few minutes of silent, intense thought, he looked up from the Will to the balding solicitor. "She's not been fully informed about the contents of the Will then. Therefore, she cannot reject what she has no information about. Mr. Markham-Peters, I will ensure that Miss Carlyle-Tintagel joins me here tomorrow at your convenience to sort this out. I would prefer that you _not_ contact William Nott about his position as contingency heir at this point--not until _after_ I have had the chance to discuss the issue with Miss Carlyle-Tintagel." He rose to his feet, looming over the desk as he handed the document back to the solicitor. 

"Well, I suppose I could wait a few days, although I truly doubt that the esteemed lady will change her mind."

Snape almost asked "Why not?" then remembered the anger in the woman's face as she'd barreled into him. She'd been mortified to find herself in his accidental embrace too, he recalled with a mental sneer. Of course, being a Maiden would explain _that_. He'd have to find her and get her to at least listen to him long enough to convince her to hear all of the facts and ramifications of her refusal.

TBC 


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything except the plot and the OCs. Everything else belongs to JKR and the legal licensees of Harry Potter material.

**Contract Binding: Chapter Three**

by RowanRhys 

Olivander's shop had hardly changed a bit to her eyes in the 24 years since her parents had brought her there to be chosen by her first and--thus far--only wand. Mr. Ollivander hadn't seemed to change either, she noted as he moved out from the shadowy reaches of the shop's back room.

"Ah, Miss Carlyle-Tintagel. Rowan wood and Unicorn Hair, twelve and a half inches long. If you will stand still and I will have your measurements done in a moment."

"But--" Before she could protest that she was happy with her old wand, the magical tape was darting about her, taking measurements she was sure had not been taken when she was pre-adolescent.

"As the witch grows, frequently the quality that led the wand to choose her changes to the point that the match is no longer appropriate,' Ollivander was mumbling as he sorted through boxes of slender gleaming wood shafts. "Let's try this one." He abruptly whirled and placed a lithe narrow wand in her hand. "Willow, fourteen and a half inches, Unicorn Hair core."

It lay inert across her palm, and when she swished it, nothing happened.

"Hmmmm." He shuffled through another box. "Try this one."

Applewood and Unicorn Hair. Maple and Unicorn Hair. Oak and Unicorn Hair. None of them reacted to her. She didn't feel the magical tingle as she wrapped her fingers around them. Marian sighed as yet another wand rejected her. And another. And another. Her feet began to hurt as they tested wand after wand--all of them cored with Unicorn Hair. The autumn sky over Diagon Alley visible through the window was darkening quickly and her stomach reminded her that she had not eaten lunch.

"Mr. Ollivander, perhaps we should forget it. My old wand will do fine."

"No, Miss Carlyle-Tintagel. We shall find it." His eyes gleamed at her over a stack of boxes. "There's a wand for every witch and wizard--"

He was interrupted as the door to the shop burst open and a gust of wind escorted the visitor into the emporium. Startled, Marian whirled around and the flowing sleeves of her robe knocked the stack of wand boxes over. She caught at the tumbling pile and ended up with a pale shaft tangled in her fingers. Her hand suddenly warmed and a large plume of violet and silver sparks burst from the end of the wand, even before she moved it.

"How very odd," breathed the wandseller. "Maple, eleven inches, with--Dragon Heartstring."

Stunned by the wand's reaction to her touch, Marian was dazed as she looked at the intruder. Black robes, taller than she by more than a head--she blinked in shock as she realized who it was. _Severus Snape!_ In the sallow skin, hooked nose and black eyes she could see the remembered face of the cousin she had avoided during their seven years of schooling. Adult now, rather than adolescent, but she still could recognize him. She turned away from him toward Mr. Ollivander with a barely repressed shudder. "How much, sir?" 

After handing over the required number of gold coins to Ollivander, Marian tucked her new wand into her belt next to her old one and turned to leave the shop.

Snape blocked her path and said, "We need to talk. _Now_."

"There's nothing to talk about," she replied in a low but intense voice. "Now, if you will excuse me--" She ducked around him, out the door and into the sparsely populated street, heading toward the Leaky Cauldron in the dusk. Her white robes seemed luminescent as she passed beneath the scattered pools of light cast by the staggered gas lamps and torch sconces. She hurried along, almost running, as if to escape the person of her dark cousin. As she neared the dark entrance to Knockturn Alley, she could hear footsteps behind her, rapidly approaching and, aggravated, she turned, her hand automatically moving to her new wand, to tell Snape off once more.

But it wasn't her cousin who had approached her. Taken aback, her hand fell away from the wand as she looked at her follower. The compact man's robes were tattered and dirty, and his eyes peered out at her from beneath shaggy gray brows beneath a forehead given extra height by a receding hairline. He grinned toothily at her and said "Good ev'nin', Miss. In a hurry, eh?"

Before she could respond verbally or turn back towards the Leaky Cauldron, Marian heard a guttural whisper behind her and she felt her entire body go rigid as at least two spells hit her from behind. She toppled forward, unable to compensate for loss of balance under the body bind and silencing spell, to be caught up by filthy hands and dragged into the dark mouth of the Knockturn Alley. 

"'Ere, I told ya it was a Maiden I saw! An' ya di'n believe me."

"We was wrong. Good eyes, Mawks." The second, nasal voice finished with a stuttering laugh. 

"She'll be worth a bit--in 'er bits an' pieces!" The third voice was just as coarse as the first two. If Marian could have shuddered she would have at the threat implied by his words.

_Oh, gods, how could I have been so stupid!_ She felt as cold as ice except for the warmth of the Unicorn horn amulet at her throat. And the chill increased as she felt their hands moving across her robes, plucking at the buttons of the high collar, groping at her body, all the while making lascivious remarks. _How am I going to get out of this?_

"Remem'er we gotta get the hair before th'other. Don't wan' ta lose the pot'ncy." Mawks' voice was close by her ear, his breath foul, roiling her stomach even as the terror tremors involuntarily set her flesh quivering. 

When his hands drew the fringe of her bangs away from her forehead and he placed the edge of a knife right at the hairline, she realized that they didn't see her as a person, only as a source for illegal potions ingredients. _Maidenhair... only good if the scalp comes with it... Virgin's blood... for Dark potions... Nononononononononononono!_

The sudden searing pain as he drew the knife across her forehead drove her into senselessness, sure that she'd never awaken.

TBC 


	4. Chapter Four

**Contract Binding: Chapter Four**

by RowanRhys

Snape turned to follow his exasperating cousin from Ollivander's shop when the old man caught at his arm. "You'll be needing a new wand, Professor. I'll expect to see you back here soon."

Severus sneered at the wandmaker as he wrenched the door open. "Don't count on it." The early October dusk had darkened quickly, and his dark robes made him blend into the shadows between the lampposts as he strode up the Alley in Marian's wake. His sharp eyes made out her white-clad figure, already nearly three blocks ahead of him and he picked up his pace.

_Blasted girl. If it had been anyone but Nott, I'd forget about this and let them have the money--_ He saw a tattered figure step out of a wall niche and move up behind Marian, and he cursed as he saw her swing around to confront the person. He fumed. _Idiotic girl's old enough to know better_--

He broke into a run, yanking out his wand, as he saw the double flash of spellwork hit her, sending her into the arms of the man who had diverted her attention from his fellows._Damn! Knockturn Alley. If they get her too far in there, she'll never come out!_

He slowed as he approached the alley mouth where they'd dragged her into the darkness, controlling his breathing and moving as silently as he could to peer around the corner. Thank Nimue that he had excellent night vision.

The trio hadn't bothered to take her very far into the side road. The faint overspill from the nearest lamp on Diagon Alley allowed him to pick up the outline of Marian's white robes, as well as the sillouettes of her three attackers. One was at her feet, pawing at the voluminous garments she wore, while another looked to be opening her collar. The third crouched over her head, a hand hovering just above her eyes. Severus caught the faint glimmer of a knife and realized with horror what their purpose really was.

"_Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!_" His voice echoed in the alley as he cast first at the figure with the knife, but wasn't fast enough as the blade had already begun to cut. Snape staggered momentarily at the power drain of casting the three spells in rapid succession then moved swiftly to bend over his cousin. "_Lumos!_"

The wandlight brought the horrific gash into clear view and he grabbed up a handful of her torn robe, probably the cleanest fabric at hand, to press against the long wound, trying to staunch the bleeding until he could get the healing potion from his robe pocket. 

"You! Stop what you're doing!"

He cast an exasperated glare over his shoulder at the trio of Enforcers who had just turned into the alley. "Where were you five minutes ago?" he snarled, then turned his attention back to Marian's injury, trying to open the Healing Potion vial while holding the fabric against the cut and maintaining the _Lumos_ spell.

"I _said_ stop what you're doing! _Expellarimus!_" As the Potionsmaster's wand flew from his right hand and the vial from his left, the wandlight vanishing and the glass bottle shattering against the cobblestones, the tallest and broadest of the trio loomed over him and grabbed Snape by the back of the neck and his arm. He yanked him up and away from the unconscious woman, slamming him up against the nearest wall with the captured arm twisted up behind him.

Snape turned his face painfully to the side, his cheek scraping against the rough brick--he thought his nose might be broken from the impact, but at that point, he didn't care. "They mugged her--"

"Shut up." The new voice was female and harsh. The shortest of the Enforcers, who had set an illumination spell over the scene while her burly partner had been manhandling Snape, bent over Marian's still form with a camera. There was a bright flash as she recorded the disposition of the unconscious men surrounding the bleeding woman. "You can make your statement at the station. Until then, not another word. Jason, _Apparate_ her to hospital. I'll join you there as soon as we get this cleared up."

"Gotcha, Langtry." The third of the Enforcer squad, a young man who could give Gilderoy Lockhart a run for the _Witch's Weekly_ "Best Smile" competition, lifted Marian's rigid form and abruptly vanished with a mutter of Latin.

"Scum!" Langtry growled as she took in the blood-covered knife in Mawks' hand. "Malcolm, bind _him_." She jerked her head toward Snape. "Then get these three tied up. Make sure you get their wands. The Inspector should be here momentarily."

Severus set his teeth as his arms were immobilized behind him with a spell and Malcolm non-too-gently patted him down, pulling potion vials from his pockets and tossing them into an evidence bag. The Enforcer cast a leg lock, leaving Snape fuming as the three low-lifes were dealt with.

"Where did you take my cousin?"

"I told you to _shut up!_" Langtry rounded on the Potionsmaster, her wand jabbing at his oozing cheek. "_Nullus Vox!_"

Snape's anger escalated into rage as she silenced him. Unfortunately, it didn't help him in getting past the spells that confined his body and voice.

The angry Enforcer turned away from him as she was hailed from Diagon Alley. "Inspector Brewer! We caught this--_Deatheater_--attacking a woman. Jason's taken her to St. Mungos. Looks like we arrived just in time."

_If you'd arrived in time, she wouldn't need to be in St. Mungo's, you--you bloody fool!_ If he'd been able to speak and move, he'd have hexed the officer right then and there.

"Professor Snape." The Inspector, a familiar-looking man of a height with the Potions teacher, but much broader, eyed him up and down with a sneer. "You're a long way from Hogwarts. Does Dumbledore know what your--extra-curricular--activities are?" He turned toward the other three bodies as more Enforcers arrived on the scene.

Malcolm had set each of the men into full body binds and was collecting the physical evidence. The knife and the four wands had joined the contents of Snape's pockets in evidence bags, and he was carefully levitating the remains of the smashed Healing Potion vial into yet another one. He glanced up at the Inspector and jerked his head toward the Professor. "I'll take him over to the station in a minute. He was trying to open this when we got here. It broke when I disarmed him." 

"Have the lab check it out. Langtry!" 

The witch finished directing the newly-arrived officers to haul the three unconscious men to the station before crossing the dirty pavement to stand next to him. She glared at Snape as she spoke. "Yes, Inspector?"

"Go to St. Mungo's and as soon as she's fit, bring the girl to the station to make her statement. Any idea who she is?"

Severus returned Langtry's glare. He'd had years of practice in staring down other people. She finally flicked a glance to the side, defeated and obviously angry about it. "She was wearing white robes--and an amulet of some sort around her neck. Didn't help her out of this mess, I'd say. And--" She paused a moment and looked at Snape once more, sneering. "_He_ referred to her as his _cousin_."

Brewer lifted a gray eyebrow over his crows-feet fringed grey eyes. "We'll find out sooner if you get her back here to make a statement and press charges. Malcolm, get him out of here. Now.

The oversized Enforcer got to his feet, handing the last of his evidence bags to another officer. "Aye, sir." In a move that one would think to be too fast for a man of his bulk, he was behind Snape, one hand gripping the Bound wrists, and the arm of his wand-bearing hand locked across the Potionsmaster's throat.

A moment later, they were standing in the dreary squadroom of the Diagon Alley Station, right in front of an open door. Snape's anger grew as he was shoved into the starkly-lit narrow chamber beyond, slammed into yet another wall--this one of institutional green matte tile. A smear of crimson stained it where his broken nose had hit the surface, the coppery tang of blood blocking most of the more objectionable odors of the lockup. He toppled to the floor as if pole-axed, facing the doorway.

"_Finite Incantatum_" Malcolm's wand was pointed at him again, from the doorway. Snape's body went abruptly limp as the binding spells vanished. But before he could get to his feet, the door was shut with a slam, and even without his wand, he could sense the warding spells that kept the cell secure.

He carefully sat down on the narrow bench that was the only provided furnishing and composed himself to wait until Marian could give the word that would hopefully end up in his release._Of course, as angry as she is about the Will, she might just want to see me rot away in here._ It dawned on him that Albus wouldn't worry about his not returning to Hogwart's that evening, because the solicitor's business was expected to take more than a day. _It is going to be a long night._

TBC 


	5. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything except Marian and the Plot. JKR owns everything else!

**Contract Binding: Chapter Five**   
By RowanRhys

When Marian awoke at St. Mungo's, the MLE officers had barely given her a chance to accept the idea that she wasn't dead, before they'd swept her away, back to Diagon Alley, to the MLE Station across the street from Gringott's.

After settling her in a stark room furnished with a table and several chairs, Officer Langtry went to fetch the Inspector. The remaining officer, a far less abrasive personality than the brusque woman, who had introduced himself as Officer Jason Garrity, smiled gently at her and asked if she'd like a cup of tea. A wave of his wand, and a mug of strong-smelling brew appeared on the table in front of her. She wrapped her shaking hands around the china, feeling the tendrils of warmth ease into her fingers and palms. 

"I'd add some milk and sugar to that if I were you. Or perhaps a spot of brandy."

She looked up as an older man came through the door, followed by Officer Langtry, who had a scowl on her face and was carrying a bundle of red-stained white fabric that she set to the side. Marian's assumption that he was the Inspector was borne out when Garrity greeted him by that title.

"Miss Carlyle-Tintagel. I'm Inspector Brewer and I'm handling this case." He eased himself into a seat across the table from her and nodded to the other officers to seat themselves. A stack of neatly trimmed parchment sheets and a Dict-a-Quill were produced and set before him, and he leaned his tweed-enrobed elbows on the tabletop and leaned slightly toward Marian, his gray eyes intent on her pale, now puzzled, face. "Oh. Officer Garrity looked at your ID while he was waiting for you to come around. Now." The Dict-a-Quill popped up and began to transcribe their conversation onto the parchment pages. "I would like to hear your version of tonight's events. And then, I'll need you to identify the perpetrators--yes, we've got them in custody right now." He smiled ferally. "And they'll be appropriately punished for their crimes--all of them."

Marian swallowed hard as the memories of those horrifying minutes in Knockturn Alley replayed in her mind. She reached up to touch her forehead, hardly believing that the long gash was now only a thin red line that would eventually fade. "They wanted my hair and… " Her voice trailed off and she trembled violently. "I was heading for the Leaky Cauldron after leaving Ollivander's--I'd gotten a new wand." She reached for her belt and found both wands missing.

Langtry reached in a pocket and withdrew the two shafts. "Here you are. The trauma team at St. Mungo's took them off you when you were brought in." She slid them across the table.

Marian glanced again at the bundle of cloth and realized that it was her outer robe. The blood on it glistened as if fresh and nausea roiled in her stomach--intellectually, she knew it must have been under a stasis spell, but--she tore her eyes away and took a gulp of the hot bitter tea before continuing. "I heard footsteps behind me and I thought it was my cousin following. I turned around to tell him to leave me alone, and--" Her voice shook as she haltingly described how she'd been hexed from behind while distracted by the wizard who'd followed her. "They--They dragged me into the shadows--" She shuddered convulsively.

"Go on, Miss Carlyle--" the Inspector prompted as the Dict-a-Quill paused.

"They wanted to--harvest--illegal potion ingredients--from--me. I heard one of them called by the name of Mawks. He had a knife and he cut me--." Marian touched her forehead again then buried her face in her hands, her voice rising into hysteric sobs. _What else did they do to me before they were stopped?_ She was afraid to touch the amulet at her throat; afraid to find out what it would tell her of her fitness to serve the denizens of the Reserve. She was afraid to go out into the street again, wondering who might be lurking in the shadows who saw her only as a commodity to exploit. She wished that she could find a Time Turner and go back and warn herself. _I wish I hadn't blown off Severus. What harm would it have done to have listened to him? I still could have said no..._

Marian found it odd that it was Officer Garrity who provided tissues and a refreshed cup of tea as the hysteric reaction wound down. The steely-eyed Enforcer witch accros the table simply sat with her arms folded, staring, at a spot just beyond Marian's left shoulder, and the Inspector looked as if he wished that she'd just get on with things and finish her statement.

"I'm sorry," she finally choked out, blotting at her eyes, and looking up at the MLE people. "I've never experienced anything like this before in my life, not even when You-Know-Who was alive."

"Well, er, if you could please continue." The Inspector glanced down at the closely written sheets of parchment before him.

"I-I don't remember anything else until I woke up at St. Mungos. I thought I'd never wake up--that they'd intended to kill me after they'd--taken--what they were--after."

A knock on the door interrupted whatever the Inspector was about to say. "Come in!" he called testily.

A large man entered carrying an evidence bag and a sheet of parchment. "Got the lab results on that potion he was going to give her. Looks like we might have assumed too much."

Langtry's eyes narrowed and she reached for the paper. "What are you talking about, Malcolm?" she snapped. She pressed her lips together after scanning the sheet and handed it to the Inspector.

Marian stared from one Enforcer to another, bewildered.

"Damn. Just what we need." Brewer slapped the paper down on the table and got to his feet. "Come along with me, Miss Carlyle. I'd like you to see if you can identify the suspects."

"Potion? I don't remember anything about a potion," she protested as he took her arm and drew her towards the door. The other officers fell in behind them as they moved down the dingy hallway toward a warded door.

"I'll explain--after you've done the IDs." He waved his wand toward the door and muttered a distorted phrase. The portal opened, revealing two more uniformed Enforcers, and a further expanse of corridor, interrupted at regular intervals by more warded doors.

Marian was guided toward the door on the right as Garrity performed a charm to make the upper part of the door transparent. She flinched back against Brewer's side as she recognized Mawks' features on the man hunched on the bench. "That's him--Mawks--he had the knife."

"He can't see you," Garrity reassured her as he removed the spell. "It's a one-way charm."

The next two cells each held the other perpetrators. "I didn't get a clear look at them," she apologized, "I was rather concentrating on that kn-knife."

"Did they say anything when they were attacking you?" suggested Malcolm. He nodded to Garrity who performed yet another charm and the sound of the second cell's occupant grousing about being arrested was amplified into the corridor.

Flinching at the violence of his swearing and the threats against those who had incarcerated him, she nodded as she recognized the voice. The man in the third cell was likewise talking to himself, making even worse promises of vengeance, and demanding to make a floo call. "He's the other one."

Expecting to be taken out of the holding area, Marian was surprised to be guided to yet another door. She stared in shock as the door went transparent. "Severus!" 

TBC


	6. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer:** The ones you recognize belong to JKR and the ones you don't belong to me. I'm grateful to be allowed to play in the Potterverse and I do not, nor ever intend to, take money for the fruits of my writing labors within it.

**Contract Binding: Chapter Six**  
By RowanRhys

Severus Snape's headache had grown to monumental proportions, and so, he suspected, had his broken nose. He'd lost track of time, his internal clock disrupted by both stress and the environment in which he found himself. The bare, windowless cell gave no clues as to how long he'd been incarcerated--adding to the aggravation of being unable to get his side of the story told.

Of course, he'd not really expected them to take him as anything other than his carefully built reputation had projected. The looming, black-garbed image he'd cultivated over the years of his double life was what protected him from Voldemort's ire and a probable _Aveda Kedavra_ curse, but continued, as always, to disrupt his daily life.

And that Will... He wished that he could summon the shade of Andrew Carlyle-Fairleighweather and force out of him just _why_ the old man had made such a stupid decision in setting up the inheritance. Why William Nott, of all people? How had the stooped Deatheater come to be selected? How had old Lord Andrew even _known_ the Ministry bureaucrat? He certainly wasn't related to either Marian or himself. While not obsessed with family lines, he knew his geneology well enough to know that there were no marriage or blood ties to the Nott family. 

The sound of the door being unlocked disturbed his aggravated musings and he opened his eyes to glare blackly at the MLE officer who filled the portal when the door was pulled open. Officer Malcolm looked back at him, a trace of disappointment quickly masked in his eyes. "Come with me."

Severus rose to his feet with slow dignity in order to disguise the slight dizziness that swept over him. _ Might be a bit of concussion on top of the rest of it_, he thought as he stepped out into the corridor. He expected to be jerked into another binding charm, but the burly wizard just gestured toward a door at the end of the hallway. It opened at his approach and he emerged into the main squadroom of the Diagon Alley station. 

He swept the room with a glance, his gaze ending up on Officer Langtry, who looked nearly as angry as he felt. The witch reached into her robes and he tensed as she pointed her wand at him. 

"_Restoro Vox!_"

There was a faint tingling in his larynx and as he exhaled softly, he could hear the faint sigh of the air making his vocal cords vibrate once more. Before Snape could actually say anything, Malcolm had moved up beside him and indicated another door that appeared to lead into a small conference room. The Potionsmaster strode into the Spartan chamber and came face to face with Inspector Brewer, who appeared rather discomfited. Langtry stepped around Snape to stand just behind and to the right of her boss.

"So, is this where I'm expected to confess to every heinous action performed in the neighborhood over the last three weeks?" Severus sneered, folding his arms across his chest.

Brewer glowered for a moment. "It appears that we owe you an apology, Professor Snape." He looked as if the words were being dragged from him. "You must understand that the circumstantial evidence--"

"I understand only that I was assumed to be guilty before the situation was fully evaluated and was forcibly prevented from making any statements in regards to my actions." He turned his icy stare onto Langtry for a long moment. "Furthermore, your team's--enthusiasm--for jumping to conclusions caused my cousin significantly more distress than she would have otherwise faced, since _he_," he jerked his head toward Malcolm, "smashed the only bottle of healing potion that I had with me. Speaking of potions, I expect to receive _all_ of my possessions back, intact."

The door opened behind him and he glanced over his shoulder to see the third team member enter the room, bearing a clear bag full of small glass vials, and an ebony-shafted wand.

Brewer cleared his throat as the items were laid on the table. Garrity left the room once more. "I'd like you to make a statement about what happened this evening. Please, Professor, sit down. I want to get you out of here as quickly as possible."

"I wouldn't doubt that for an instant," Snape snarled, "Then, make it fast. I want to get to St. Mungo's to check on my cousin."

Langtry muttered something under her breath and he nailed her with another glare, "What was that Miss Langtry?" His voice was the cold snap of the Potions Professor that she remembered from her last few years at Hogwarts and she started for a moment before sneering back at him.

"I said that perhaps you should look at getting admitted yourself."

Before Snape could respond to her insulting remark, Brewer cleared his throat again. "May we proceed?"

The Dict-a-Quill rushed along the parchment as Severus described his actions of the day. "I completed part of my business with the solicitor--Markham-Peters--and since he said he needed me to return in the morning, I indulged myself in some shopping along the Alley. When I finally got to Ollivander's, I found my cousin, Miss Carlyle-Tintagel, purchasing a new wand. She didn't want to speak with me and preceded me from the shop, while Ollivander held me back with a question. By the time I got outside, she was about two blocks ahead of me. She was accosted near the mouth of Knockturn Alley--one man distracted her while the other two hit her with spells. _Stupefy_ and a _Body Bind_, I'd suppose. 

"I ran up to the mouth of the Alley and found they'd not taken her far in. I _Stupefied_ all three of them, but I wasn't fast enough to keep her from being cut. I was trying to get the bleeding stopped when your wonder Trio here showed up. They said to stop what I was doing as I was trying to open the Healing Potion while keeping a light on the scene and pressure on the wound. I asked them where they were five minutes before, then _he_," Snape nodded towards Malcolm, "Cast an _Expellarimus_ on me and smashed the Healing Potion along with taking away my wand. The next thing I know is that I'm slammed up against a wall with a broken nose in a full body bind. Then _she_ cast a _Nullus vox_ on me when I demanded to know to where my cousin had been _Apparated_. I was frisked and my possessions taken from me, then _Apparated_ to this place where I've spent the last several hours in a cell with no offered first aid and the Nullus vox spell still in effect so I couldn't even ask for attention." He glared at the three MLE personnel before continuing. "Suddenly I'm let out, my voice returned to me and told it was a mistake. What finally gave you _that_ idea?"

Before he could go further into one of his trademark, cutting rants, he heard the door open and turned to see who had entered the room.

"Because I told them you had nothing to do with it," Marian said, moving to stand next to his chair.

TBC


	7. Chapter Seven

**Disclaimer:** The ones you recognize belong to JKR and the ones you don't belong to me. I'm grateful to be allowed to play in the Potterverse and I do not, nor ever intend to, take money for the fruits of my writing labors within it.

**Contract Binding: Chapter Seven**  
By RowanRhys

Bells were sonorously ringing one o'clock in the morning as Marian and Severus hurried along Diagon Alley toward the Leaky Cauldron.  The dark maw of Knockturn Alley loomed ahead to their left, and the memories of the attack earlier that evening froze her muscles, slowing her steps as they got closer to the dark side street.  

"We'll never get where we're going if you don't move your feet."  The snap in his voice was enough to break through the fear haze and get her past into the next stretch of lamplit pavement.

Shivering, both from cold and fear, she pulled the borrowed robe more tightly about herself and glared up at him.  "I don't know about you, but I'm going to go back home to the Reserve.   Alyce will be frantic that I'm not back already."

He hooked his hand through her elbow and urged her forward.  "You're going to the Leaky Cauldron and to bed.  Markham-Peters is expecting to see both of us at nine to conclude the business of the Will."

Marian dug in her heels and snapped, "I'm not staying here overnight and I'm NOT going to marry some stranger just because my Grandfather had antiquated ideas about a witch's role."

"I don't think that I qualify as a stranger, cousin."  He started walking with a long stride, pulling her along with him, forcing her to nearly run to keep up.

"You may as well be," she muttered.  "Will you _please slow down? I'm in borrowed shoes that don't quite fit."  Marian scowled as he moderated his pace.  "Why are you so blasted intent on this anyway?  You shouldn't need the money, not with your job at Hogwarts."_

"This is not an appropriate place to have this conversation.  I'll answer your questions while we eat."

"I told you that I'm going home."   She fumed as he just kept walking, not deigning to answer her, his grip on her elbow firm enough to keep her from pulling away from him.  _Bloody stubborn . . .  She looked up at his battered face as they passed under another street light and flinched at the dried blood across his cheek and the swollen, misshapen hook of his nose.  "Nimue's Hair!  Why didn't you get some first aid before we left the station?"_

"I need nothing from them but to be left alone," he snarled at her, and she shook her head in exasperation.  They'd reached the brick wall that led out of the Alley into the back yard of the Leaky Cauldron and Snape turned to look down at her.  "I propose a bargain. You stay and talk with Markham-Peters about the Will with me, and I'll submit to having this dealt with."  

She glared up at him.  "That's not fair."  Marian knew that even with her dislike of him, she'd worry about the injuries he'd received on her behalf.  

"You know what they say about love and war."

"This certainly isn't love," she muttered before nodding her head.  "Agreed." She reached out and tapped the bricks with her wand.  "But don't expect me to change my mind."

* * * * *

"Hold still," Marian scolded as she wiped the dried blood from his cheek with a potion soaked cloth.  "I'm almost done this part.  Then we'll take care of your nose. I'm glad that Tom had this stuff, otherwise you'd be stuck with Muggle methods and they're no fun."

"And how would you know?"  Snape was seated in an armchair before her, facing the fire, and a trio of candlesticks on the round table next to the chair illuminated his scowling face.

She pulled her stool a bit closer to his knees and dabbed at his face again. "Got caught in a storm on the edge of the Forest when I was checking the barriers a few years back.  A tree came down at the wrong moment, knocking me down, and I was found by a Muggle.  Nothing serious, but she insisted on driving me to her home down the road and daubing me with iodine and plasters.  The iodine hurt more than the scrapes did!"  She looked critically at his cheek.  "Well, that's a bit better. Do you want to eat before I work on your nose or after?"

"Considering that I won't be able to taste a thing until the swelling is gone, you might as well do it now.  I'm half afraid to ask where you got your expertise."

Marian recapped the healing potion and set it on the table.  "Part of my training.  Unicorns are usually docile around us, but sometimes the younger ones get too excited and it's pretty easy to get one's nose mashed by a tossing head, or a broken foot from a misplaced hoof."  She rummaged through the vials Severus had carried in his pockets, sorting out a pair of bottles filled with liquid of a similar golden shade.  "Why didn't you label these?  Which is the Boneset?"  A vial of an almost electric blue liquid was also selected and set aside.

"Can't remember your Potions classes, Miss Carlyle-Tintagel?" he sneered. 

She laughed shortly.  "If you show that expression to your students, I'm amazed they stop shaking long enough to put the potions together.  I just don't want to take any chances of making a mistake."  

"Nice to hear an honest answer.  Most would find an excuse to hide the fact that they don't know."  His long pale finger pointed to one of the bottles.  "The other one is a sleeping draught."

"Hmmm. I thought they were generally purple."  She uncapped the electric blue bottle and measured out five drops into a horn cup that the landlord had provided along with the hot water and the food that weighed down the other side of the table.  She reached for the pitcher of juice he'd sent up and filled the cup, and swirled it gently to mix the contents.  "Drink up.  This is going to hurt and I don't need your yells waking up the people down the hall."

"You're thinking of the Draught of the Living Death.  And no, it wouldn't do your reputation any good being caught in a bedroom alone with me."  He tossed back the cup's contents and set it down on the tabletop.

She found herself surprised at the bitterness in his voice.  "My reputation has nothing to do with it!  I just don't want anyone to have to suffer more pain than necessary."  

She reached into her belt for her wand and hesitated as her fingertips grazed the handle of her old one.  _It's the one I've always used for my healing work, but it's been acting up lately.  She bit the inside of her lip as she watched Snape's eyes dilate, half hidden beneath his bruised eyelids, as the pain relieving potion took effect.  She shifted her hand to the new wand, curling her fingers around it.  __Better go as I mean to go on.  And after that display in Ollivander's shop, it had better work well._

"_Skeletus visibilus," she said softly, waving the wand in a slow sweep in front of his face.  A ghostly image immediately overlay his features, a representation of the skull that underlay his features.  The nasal opening glowed in varying shades of red, the deeper colours clearly showing fractures in the bone where the septum should anchor.  "__Cartiliginus visibilus."_

She frowned as the cartilage appeared in blue.  The nasal divider was completely separated from its bony anchor.  Left as it was, the aquiline beak would heal into a particularly disfiguring lump.  _Let's see the best way to do this.  "__Tumoris reducio."  Marian reached up and gently touched Snape's nose, feeling the puffiness decreasing under her fingers as the spell took effect.  "Severus, this might still hurt.  I'm sorry." Watching the red and blue images closely, she pressed her fingers on each side of his nose, firmly directing the misplaced cartilage back to the correct position.  She winced as she felt the muscles in his jaw tense, and glanced down to see his hands clenched tightly on the arms of the chair.  "Almost done."  She sighed with relief as she felt and saw things settle into place.  Snatching up her wand, she cast one more healing charm, to prevent further swelling, and reached for the little bottle of Boneset.  Her hands were shaking as she pried the lid free and held the bottle to his lips.  "Come on.   Drink up." _

As he swallowed the stuff, she sat back on her stool, maintaining the _visibilus spells until she saw the angry red lines of the fractures start to fade.  When she was sure that the septum would stay in place, she dropped the charms and rubbed her hands over her face, exhausted._

"Thank you."  Snape's voice was still slightly nasal but that would be gone by morning, she knew.  What surprised her was the lack of grudging that she'd half-expected to hear in the tone.

"I was worried you were going to come right out of the chair," she admitted.  "I'd hoped that the potion would have deadened the pain some."

"Believe me, I have felt far worse than that."  He rose from the chair and moved around the table to the covered dishes, exploring the fare the innkeeper had sent up.

She chose not to pursue that line of conversation as the clock on the mantelpiece chimed twice, singing out softly, "It's very late!  It's very late!"  She got to her feet and stood, wobbling briefly as her legs complained of the cramped position she'd held over the past hour while working on Severus' injuries."

"Sit down before you fall down," he snapped as he filled a plate.

"Don't order me around."

"You might have the wherewithal to mend me but I don't have the ability to fix you up if you crack your head on the hearthstone.  Sit down and eat something before going to bed."

She glared at him as she sank down into the armchair he had vacated, pulling the tweed robe more tightly about herself after putting her wand back in her belt.  "Just where am I sleeping, anyway?"

"In here."  He handed her the filled plate and jerked his head toward the wide bed in the corner of the room.

She whipped her head around to stare at the four-poster in shock.  "No!"

To be continued

**Author's Note:** Thank you for your patience.  My muse was extremely insistent that I work on "What Will Come, Will Come…," barely allowing me to get my notes written for this chapter, but she finally relented and let me tell a bit more of Severus and Marian's tale.  I hope you liked this quieter interlude, because thing are going to get exciting again fairly soon!


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